The GBI is investigating after a Paulding County deputy opened fire on a sword-wielding man who had just been shot by one of his neighbors.
The bizarre incident started about 10:40 a.m. Wednesday when deputies responded to a suspicious person call at a Julia Way home, the sheriff’s office said in a news release. The woman who called 911 told deputies that her neighbor, 41-year-old Richard Jeanpaul Harris, was looking in her front door, “jiggling” the door handle and yelling.
Deputies spoke to Harris, who the sheriff’s office said “seemed unstable,” before he abruptly left and went back into his home, the release said. He wouldn’t let deputies into his home, so they told his mother, who lives with him, what took place before leaving.
A little before 6:15 p.m., deputies were called back to the same street after a report of gunfire, the release said. According to the GBI, deputies found a “tremendous amount of blood” outside the residence when they arrived.
The sheriff’s office said Harris attacked another one of his neighbors before running at the woman from the earlier incident “in an aggressive manner.” The woman then shot Harris’ legs, prompting him to go back into his home, deputies said in the release.
Deputies and paramedics were able to get into the home and attempted to “secure and treat” Harris, the GBI said. However, they said Harris picked up a sword and tried to attack them.
Deputy Carl Brown used a Taser on Harris, but he continued to come at authorities with the sword, the GBI said. That’s when Deputy Allen Perry shot Harris.
Harris was taken by ambulance to a hospital, where his condition is unknown. No officers were injured.
The GBI was asked to investigate the officer-involved shooting, which is the 62nd such investigation the agency has opened this year. Both deputies involved in the incident have been placed on paid administrative leave, which is the department’s policy amid GBI investigations.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution also tracks officer-involved shootings that don’t involve the GBI, and those numbers sometimes differ from the GBI’s tally.
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